Sept. 23, 2002

By Dave Lohse

Associate Athletics Communications Director
University of North Carolina

It was just last month that I was at a party bemoaning my quick ascent into old agedom. After all, when a guy who still wants to party like a college boy realizes he is only three years short of the old 50, it can be depressing. And this past week when I acquired a Buick Century, I became even more distraught. Little old man car, here I come.

But in all seriousness, the best thing I can say about growing old is the fact that at least I have lived through a lot in my lifetime. Being 47 has allowed me to experience things like the assassinations of three of my political icons-John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It has allowed me to watch the civil rights movement of the '60s, the Viet Nam War, the first moon landing, the gas crisis of the 1970s, Watergate and the Iran hostage crisis.

All those events have shaped me as a human being as have the many sports events I have witnessed or watched since I became hooked on the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears in that fateful year of 1963. I can still remember the Bears beating Y.A. Tittle and the New York Giants for the NFL championship at Wrigley Field in Chicago just a month after President Kennedy's assassination. And that was just the start of wonderful athletic memories that have gone on to include a slew of national championships in soccer, basketball and lacrosse for the Carolina Blue and White.

So this weekend when over 270 current and former student-athletes from UNC gather for the University's celebration of the Atlantic Coast Conference Top 50 Teams, it truly is a memorable and meaningful event for this old curmudgeon. Arriving at Chapel Hill from the steel mill laden environs of Lake County, Indiana in 1977, I obviously did not get to see all of these incredible athletes compete in person, but I saw a fairly healthy percentage. And all I can say is thank you to each and every one of them for providing me with thrills I will never forget.

I worry today that folks don't appreciate the past as much as they used to. Maybe it is the MTV, Internet generation growing up or our fascination with having everything instantaneously in our lives but there doesn't seem to be as much understanding of how important history is. And on campus this weekend we have so many examples of living history I hope we know how to celebrate them in the manner they should be. I am sure Carolina fans will rise to the occasion and do it better than many other schools might.

For if there is a University that reveres its tradition, it is Chapel Hill. And that is a big part of the reason why I feel so blessed to have worked here the past 25 years. The people who come through this place appreciate the past and the history of this school and its town as much as any populace I have ever known.

So when names like Surhoff, Krepp, Bryant, Brock, Walsh, Drake, Couch, Bankhead, Winde, Jones and others descend upon our campus this weekend, it really means something. Many of these athletes' former coaches have made the sojourn to Chapel Hill as well for the celebration that begins with a banquet Friday night and continues with recognition at the Tar Heels' football game Saturday with Georgia Tech.

To state that these folks made history is perfunctory. To state that they are our history is more accurate. They were not only great athletes at North Carolina but they have made so much of their lives professionally, going on to not only be successes at their present jobs but also to volunteer in their communities and to work on behalf of charitable endeavors. These are folks we can be duly proud of.

It has always been my belief that to truly enjoy the present and have any hope to grasp the future, an appreciation and understanding of the past is required. This weekend we have a face-to-face opportunity to embrace that past. To the athletes, I say a hearty welcome back and to coin a phrase from Bob Hope, "Thanks for the memories."